Endicott - The Words In Ink Don’t Lie
The initial impression of any record is usually the recording quality as sometimes not even amazing music is able to penetrate a horrible recording. The recording quality on this is almost unbearable.
Now this was an exciting prospect. Through random circumstances, every time I would be traveling on tour with my band we always ended up playing shows with this great rock/hardcore hybrid band called Endicott. I was always impressed with their live show as it always exuded a high energy performance with enough crowd participation to keep everyone involved. They always reminded me of a less old school influenced Bane.
When I first heard rumblings of the Equal Vision deal being sealed (it was a wonder why it took so long seeing as members of the band actually worked at Equal Vision) this was going to finally expose the band to the rest of the hardcore world. Were they able to deliver? In my estimation they fall short of the mark. This is not to say the band is horrible and cannot redeem themselves in different ways but with this record, I would rather have a mulligan (a do over in golf terms).
The initial impression of any record is usually the recording quality as sometimes not even amazing music is able to penetrate a horrible recording. The recording quality on this is almost unbearable. Of course I have heard worse recordings, but when a band enters a somewhat reputable studio such as Big Blue Meanie- who has turned out some good records like Thursday and This Day Forward- and turns out something like this, it is beyond my comprehension. It just sounds like a pre-production session that got translated into a full-length record. The music still retains the same vibe that they did with their previous demos but is missing the energy you know can be present. It has moments of material that can be infectious; it is just too hard to delve between the rest of it.
I would advise most to check out the available samples, make up your own mind but if you rely on this review alone for your opinion, I would say wait for it to hit the used bin- if that.
(Equal Vision Records)